Donations sought for headstones of Civil War vets

By Katie Collins Brush News-Tribune Staff Writer

Posted:
11/06/2012 04:00:00 PM MST

Museum member Steve Rhode, decked out in his own official Civil War garb during the museum's sack lunch program that welcomed a Civil War musical in November, holds up his donation drum to entice donations to help refurbish and replace the headstones of Civil War veterans interred at the Brush Cemetery. (Katie Collins/News-Tribune)

Recounted as one of the bloodiest conflicts in the nation’s history, the American Civil War pitted brother against brother, neighbor against neighbor, and by the time it ended in Confederate surrender in 1865, the war, also known as the War Between the States, proved to be the costliest war ever fought on American soil, with some 620,000 of 2.4 million soldiers killed, millions more injured and the population and territory of the South devastated.As America commemorates this harrowing time in history 150 years later, in the midst of the event’s sesquicentennial anniversary during the years 2011-2014, staff and volunteers at the Brush Museum and Cultural Center have taken up a cause to refurbish and replace many of the headstones of those Civil War veterans currently interned at the Brush Cemetery. According to Museum member Steve Rhode, there are 30 Civil War soldiers buried at the Brush Cemetery, with many of their headstones swiftly deteriorating or even lacking the G.A.R. (Grand Army of the Republic) designating symbol that they deserve.In fact, two Civil War veterans’ grave sites are completely lacking a headstone and it is those that museum members hope to tackle first during the project. In order to help replace some headstones with newer, small markers, to refurbish some and purchase two small headstones for the soldiers who have gone without, the museum is asking the public to make any donation possible to help further the project.

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Rhode hopes that by the time the country commemorates the 150th anniversary of the infamous Battle of Gettysburg, which will take place July 1-3 in 2013, museum members might be able to honor the memory of local soldiers with the culmination of this project. Anyone interested in furthering the cause can contact Steve Rhode at (970) 842-4658 or Joanne Gosselink at City Hall by calling (970) 842-5001.